STONES.WAD

STONES.WAD is a single-level PWAD designed by Michael Kelsey. It is notable for being perhaps the first "serious" third-party Doom level ever created (the earlier releases were clearly marked as editing prototypes, or had their architecture deliberately simplified for lack of a reliable node builder). The text file provides no canonical name for the map.

Although the idgames package is dated April 17, 1994, this level was discussed on alt.games.doom at least as early as March 29, before the final version of DEU 5.0 had been completed. The time stamp on the WAD itself is March 26.

This level also appeared on Maximum Doom as STONES2.WAD, as E1M5 of NEWDOOM.WAD, as MAP07 of NEWHITS1.WAD, and as E3M1 of WADPAK12.WAD.

Essentials
Head up and down the stairs towards the room to the east, and grab the yellow key. Open the wall to your north, destroy both of the barrels in your path, and go east outside. Open the yellow door at the south and flip the switch in the next room.

Secrets

 * 1) The door north of the yellow key counts as a secret and is impossible to miss. (sector 38)
 * 2) After going through #1, turn left at the end of the path, head down the lift and continue until you reach a shotgun and two boxes of shells.  There is a switch here which lowers the wall ahead. (sector 30)
 * 3) Pressing the back wall of #2 lowers two lifts allowing access across the nukage to a chaingun, a box of shotgun shells, and a box of bullets (hard skill only). (sector 29)
 * 4) To the south of the aforementioned chaingun is a lift which leads to two health bonuses and an outdoor area. (sector 62)
 * 5) This outdoor area has a window in the south-west which is actually a lift.  The lift leads to a room with some monsters, a box of bullets, a rocket launcher, a box of rockets, and a light amplification visor.  There is a secret door on the south wall here leading to a passage with two boxes of shotgun shells and (on easy and medium skills) a shotgun. (sector 85)
 * 6) Part way along this passage is an alcove with a partial invisibility. (sector 140)
 * 7) Further along the passage, the passage forks.  The left fork leads to a computer map.  There are two secret sectors here. (sector 147)
 * 8) See #7. (sector 149)
 * 9) The outdoor area mentioned in #4 has a soul sphere.  On collecting it, the floor rises.  At the top it is possible to jump across to a berserk. (sector 95)
 * 10) The eastern wall of #9 is a secret door leading to a medikit, two rockets (multiplayer only), and an armor.  Getting the armor teleports you to near the exit. (sector 162)

Demo files
The release includes a separate demo file, STONES.LMP, by the author. It requires Doom v1.2 to be viewed and runs for 5:41.03 (11936 tics), showing off the level on Ultra-Violence.

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on June 5, 2023.

Player spawns
This level contains four spawn points:
 * 1) facing north. (thing 138)
 * 2) facing south. (thing 144)
 * 3) facing north. (thing 154)
 * 4) facing east. (thing 155)

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level: